Walking Workouts, Plus Diet And Fitness

March 26, 2006|By Gail Gedan Spencer Staff Writer

Leslie Sansone is the undisputed queen of walking workouts, and everybody and their sister (and George Foreman) has introduced similar workouts over the years. So let's take a look at Leslie's and Denise's latest walking workouts, plus a DVD based on a popular diet and fitness book.

Leslie Sansone 5 Mile Advanced Walk ($24.95, available from leslie sansone.com). If you've been walking with Leslie for some time and really want to kick things up, here's what you've been waiting for. This DVD (also available in VHS) is broken into five 1-mile intervals, so you can do as many miles as you want or do 'em all for a challenging workout.

Each mile uses different tools but you don't need to own the specific gadgets; a toning band will substitute nicely for her Walk Belt and 1- or 2-pound hand weights can be used in place of her Booster Weights (of course you can always purchase those on her Web site).

The mile walks vary from 14 to a speedy 10 minutes, which is great since interval training has been shown to improve fitness levels.

Denise Austin Blast Away the Pounds Indoor Walk (Lions Gate, $14.98). This isn't Austin's first walking workout; she had one back in 1994. This updated walking video features three 1-mile walks: an easy walk, an interval walk (high and low intensity) and a walk and tone using hand weights. There's also a 10-minute stretch. For a Denise Austin video, I actually enjoyed this one, probably because there aren't that many different moves to trip you up with her "insta-cueing." The set's a bit nacho cheesy; it looks like an abandoned Tex-Mex restaurant.

Pop this one in when you don't feel like doing anything. Walking workouts can be sneaky; you think you're not doing much but you're actually getting a pretty decent workout (at least according to my heart-rate monitor).

Body for Life for Women Workout (GT Media, $19.98)

Dr. Pamela Peeke, author of the book Body for Life for Women, hosts this DVD, which includes an hourlong overview of the book's very sound, ungimmicky principles, plus a 30-minute simple yet effective aerobic/strength workout led by the engaging Ellen Barrett. The workout is broken into three 10-minute segments, perfect for mixing and matching.